Page 47 of Cursed Beasts

Sometimes it was just too quiet here. It left me with too much time to think and obsess over everything. Nothing made my anxiety worse than being left to my own thoughts for too long.

After I finished the fucking amazing meal, I ate my dessert, only blushing once. Never thought I would blush at eating pie but here I was, still occasionally thinking of one of them in between my thighs.

Cleaning up my dishes and leaving them on the dresser, I looked over at my trunk and suitcase. Lately I had been wanting to unpack, so I could stop living out of suitcases. I hadn’t even gone through my trunk fully to see what else was in there.

Serena seemed to pack all of the necessary items like skin, hair and body care into the trunk and some food. When I saw she had packed my favorite candies, I closed it. It infuriated me that she had known I was coming here and had tried to give me every comfort except the comfort of knowing what the hell I was getting into.

Just thinking about how I was left in the dark instead of being able to prepare, left me furious. The amount of studying and resources I could have brought with me might have made this so much easier.

There was also the letter Serena had written to me that I had yet to read. Curiosity was picking at me, but also, what if she left me clues? What if the answer was in there this whole time? I could also be making up excuses for her.

I paced by the window, thinking I should just read the damn letter. A part of me was also afraid that it said something I wasn’t ready for, and what if the letter brought me nothing but heartache? There wasn’t a day that I didn’t miss her, but I was also so angry at her.

Just read the damn letter, Kat.

Taking a deep breath, I walked to my suitcase, and pulled the letter from the side pocket. My hands trembled slightly from my nerves. Opening the envelope, I took the letter out, exhaling slowly to put my nerves at ease. I opened the letter as I heard the clock chime.

Katarina,

I’m so sorry. When they told me what was going to happen, I was so upset. It was supposed to be me, but father changed his mind and chose you. I couldn’t tell you anything. None of us could even try to say anything remotely close to you leaving, or anything that pertained to you leaving. Every time, I tried to talk about it, the spell would stop me from speaking. If I figured out a way to say something, it would cause me pain, like someone was pulling at my heart.

Father and I argued for weeks after his decision. It was supposed to be me, Kat. I had been told since I hit puberty that I had to fulfill an obligation to the family. The youngest Belladonna always left, ensuring we paid the price. One day, father told me I wouldn’t be required to leave anymore. He couldn’t send a daughter who had potential.

You were a perfect candidate to send, since you had been assisting on jobs with him since you were younger. He taught you almost everything he knew, making you the best person to be there. I called bullshit, because how could you be the best person when you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself against the wolves?

I’m so sorry. You need to find everything you can to break the spell because after the year—

The letter ended abruptly. I turned the page over to see if anything was on the back. The back of it was blank. Did she forget to write the rest of the letter?

I looked inside the envelope to make sure there wasn’t another sheet of paper in there. When I came up empty-handed, I studied the letter again. It seems really strange that she would end the letter there unless someone had interrupted her.

Reading the letter again made me cry from relief. She couldn’t tell me anything. No one could. Not that I expected my other sisters to say anything, but I definitely expected it from Serena. I would have done the same for her. We were so close that some days, it felt like we were the only ones related. Our bond had flourished over the years, and grew stronger each year.

Goddess, I missed her.

Feeling a lot better, I looked back at the contents of the trunk. I had everything you could think of for skincare and haircare. My favorite creams, body wash and hair masque included.

My heart swelled when I knew she was trying to make me as comfortable as possible here. Underneath all the self-care items was a row of books, notebooks, and a few vials of my favorite tinctures.

Crystals, dried herbs, and an old grimoire were in a corner. I recognized it immediately as my grandmother’s grimoire. It was one of my comfort reads. Her penmanship was immaculate, her spells were innovative and some of her stories were my favorites.

On the other side of the trunk was a cloth bag that looked familiar. I opened the bag, and realized why the bag looked so familiar as I dropped the contents on the bed.

Of course, Serena would think to send me with my vibrator and a few sex toys with enough batteries to last me the year—hopefully.

My face grew hot when I realized I could finally get off like I needed to for the last few days, but I was also hesitant. The guy had impeccable hearing, they would hear the vibrations a mile away, and I didn’t think I could bring myself to use the toy while I knew they were close.

Putting the toys in the bag and back in the trunk’s corner, I found more candies and a life preserver, a fucking fan. It was compact, not very big, but anything would help the heat that was soon to hit us.

And the best thing in the entire trunk? My phone.

I quickly tried to get the phone to turn on, but after several tries, I didn’t succeed. It was dead. I grabbed my charger from the truck, getting up to plug it in when I realized I couldn’t. There was no electricity.

Fuck, could I not get a fucking break? Frustration bubbled up in me, giving me the urge to scream out my annoyance. Exhaling harshly, I tried to focus on the positive things. Serena didn’t betray me. She packed me every comfort I had from home, making this as easy as possible on me.

I unpacked the trunk, finding a place for everything, and put away my clothes in the closet and a few of the drawers. Once I had everything put away, I set the suitcase in the closet and put the trunk at the foot of my bed.

My room desperately needed to be cleaned. I did as much as I could when I realized it wasn’t that dirty because Mr. Potter had been cleaning up after me. I just needed to organize, giving me more space in the room to walk around.

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